Freedom, justice, liberty

Although I consciously keep Why This Matters posts nonpartisan, White Rose friendships and work grow increasingly relevant to events in our United States of America. Indeed, around the world.

Willi Graf, the man who preferred a benign dictator, surely would have worked in Minneapolis' underground, assisting immigrants. After all, he helped "the Other" during the Shoah. So did Alexander Schmorell, the socialist-not-Bolshevist, who provided food and support for forced laborers in Munich.

Christoph Probst, the monarchist, wanted to see Hitler gone. Traute Lafrenz, the democratic rebel, worked with a group in Hamburg that considered blowing up a military bridge. Apolitical Susanne Hirzel found enough courage to mail leaflets and discussed injustices she witnessed with fellow musicians in her string quartet.

It wasn't politics that brought them together. It was a sense that what they saw with their own eyes, what they read in aligned newspapers, what they heard on the radio -- it was all wrong. And the wrong was so great that they could no longer keep silent.

In that spirit, I'm venturing into a nonpartisan view of injustices caused by current politics, of human and civil rights violations committed by those in power. Of crimes against humanity perpetrated by elected officials.

  • Drugs, suicide, and resistance. We will get through this trauma. One messy-sobbing-crying-shouting-cringey day at a time. Fighting back? It matters! You matter. I matter. Together, we all matter. Never forget. (02/18/2026) Free.
  • When faith fails. When faith is hollow and does obeisance to tyranny, it has ceased to be faith. (02/02/2026) Free.
  • Do what you can. Know your heart. I was thinking about Inge and Sophie. I wonder if they fought in the kitchen. I wonder if Sophie would break down in tears hearing her sister defend the Party. (01/27/2026) Free.
  • Standing up anyway. Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s feeling the fear, but standing up anyway. (01/25/2026) Free.
  • Don’t wash the teapot! Remember that trust matters. We’re not bound together by politics or theology or philosophy. We’re bound together by a common cry for liberty and justice that transcend the trivial pursuit of power. (01/20/2026) Free.
  • Unvarnished words. Just once, that which is human must be exalted. Then one day, the breakthrough will come. ... We must do this for the sake of life.-Bernhard Knoop, speaking about Christoph Probst. (01/13/2026) Free.
  • Disagreements among friends. When "like-minded" means "you must agree with me on every single little thing that I hold to be true," it destroys. It destroys friendships, it destroys political movements, it destroys nations. (09/09/2025) Free.
  • Political violence: How do we respond? I am glad that we are still free enough to talk about nonviolence as reaction to political violence in a theoretical manner. Because the last thing we need is senseless bloodshed. (08/14/2025) Free.
  • Things are not as they appear. Next time you work on a project, whether connected to White Rose resistance or something entirely unrelated, remember this post. Dig to ensure you have correct context and all the facts. (I should have tagged journalists on this post!) (08/09/2025) Free.
  • The fallacy of inner emigration. The concept of an “inner emigration” was, upon closer inspection, hollow. With very few exceptions the “inner emigration” had produced ... no literature of dissent.-Ernestine Schlant. The concept applies in our era too! (07/30/2025) Free.
  • Willi Graf, Werner Scholl, Otl Aicher, Sophie Scholl, Lisa Grote... and fascism. "There has never been a government based on Christian principles, since the powerless have always been trampled underfoot and the powerful have been honored."-Sophie Scholl. Perfect for discussions of fascism with friends who doubt we're there in 2026. (07/22/2025) Free.
  • Lighted compass in a dark night. "I think that within this moral struggle, we can find our moral compass again." (07/08/2025) Free.
  • A man named Trenker and the “following orders” defense. Yes to liberty and justice. Yes to standing up for what’s right, for defending those who are being falsely prosecuted or persecuted. Yes to addressing our constitutional crisis. No to false memes. (06/11/2025) Free. Footnotes and references (paid).
    • Earlier version: Othmar Trenker, aka Alfred Trenker. Trenker and Siegel managed to describe the Gestapo’s “duties” in such a way that Bureau IV B4 (bureau that worked out details of Eichmann’s “Final Solution") was rendered harmless. Just bureaucracy. (01/21/2025) Free. Different from the June 2025 post.
  • Trip report: Spargelfest. White Rose students did not fight on behalf of democracy, or federalism, or the monarchy, or Communism, or anarchy. They fought on behalf of freedom and justice for all. And so should we. (06/10/2025) Free.
  • Quakers have the right idea. They are not protesting President Trump, or Secretary Noem, or the Republican Party. They are not demonstrating against MAGA. Rather, they are marching FOR justice. (05/16/2025) Free.
  • Abandoning the Nazi fold. Walking away from family. From that brokenness, from that dysfunction, they found light. They found justice. They found peace. They wrote justice. (04/30/2025) Free.
  • The week after the trial. Once it becomes illegal to write “seditious” words calling for freedom, once it becomes illegal to call out The Powers That Be for their unconstitutional behavior, there is then no rule of law. (04/25/2025) Free. Footnotes and references (paid).
  • The Clergy. The Judiciary. The Military. On the other hand, perhaps such a unified protest of the bishops would have taken place if thousands of angry Christians had stormed the doors of the parsonages. (04/01/2025) Free. Footnotes and references (paid).
  • “History is healing”  Not one of these people I love so dearly knew what would happen in the future. They didn’t know who their words would reach, or who would visit their graves. They were doing what they felt was right. (04/23/2025) Free.
  • Unknown heroes. Though they remain unknown, their sacrifices will never fade, for they live on in the goodness we bring to the world each day. Special guest writer: Julia Mainka, an eighth-grader from Hersbruck, Bavaria, Germany.
  • Explicit abandonment. We cannot explicitly abandon our responsibilities to know the issues and make real decisions, even if our single vote does not radically alter the political landscape. (04/09/2025) Free.
  • The heaviness of writing. Sometimes we’ve got to back away from the things that normally consume our lives and stand in the sunshine a while. No better way to clear out cobwebs hidden by the dark. (04/04/2025) Free.
  • Where there are no worthy persons... A Rabbi answers the question: If I was not Jewish and was living in Germany during the time of the Shoah, would I have risked my life by hiding Jews or actively resisting the Nazis? (03/27/2025) Free.
  • Sam Spade and Sophie Scholl. When is it right to break the law in the name of rightness and justice, and when is it not? Who gets to decide? (03/21/2025) Free.
  • Not in their name. The things they had in common? A love of justice, a desire for freedom, a wish that their Germany could once again know peace. Nothing else mattered. This post calls for NOT using White Rose as your "brand" if you decide to protest or practice civil disobedience. Find your own brand, please. (03/18/2025) Free.
  • Clearing cobwebs. Where there is no freedom, life itself is precious. (03/06/2025) Free.
  • The German Elections of February 23, 2025. “Stop it! Enough! We will no longer stand for the fact that people in our country must once again be afraid!” - Paul Spiegel, November 9, 2000. (02/24/2025) Free.
  • When "politics" gets in the way of justice. The White Rose friends assumed risks, knowing that they were fighting on the side of justice. Not for a political or religious creed, but for justice. (02/06/2025) Free.
  • Black History Month and the White Rose. The lives and deaths of the Tirailleurs Sénégalais should be remembered. Not just by France, but by all who benefited from the sacrifice these soldiers made, one that was rewarded with injustice. Note: I learned more from comments to this post than I did from the research! That's typical for Substack. (02/03/2025) Free. Footnotes and references (paid).
  • Changing, and not so changing, times. Thankful for the hope of peace, our time to live, a challenge to meet. For the land of milk and honey that can be. (01/10/2025) Free.
  • I Heart Nuns. ‘Women make the best anti-fascists.’ - Eugen Grimminger. (01/07/2025) Free.
  • Starting your new year with their story. Our days are unsettling. Rumblings of war, civil war. No matter where you live on this globe, there's unrest. In these days, look to the young people who had the backbone to stand up and say NO. (01/02/2025) Free.
  • Food talk. As long as a recipe could be remembered, could be argued about, could be visualized, the person connected with that recipe still lived. - Dr. Myrna Goldenberg. (12/03/2024) Free.

 

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